Pre-Eclipse Lecture 1: Mixing History and Science About Past Eclipses

ECLIPSES AND CELESTIAL BODIES:  Shining a Light on History and Science during this Magical Moment of Darkness

(20-min free, pre-eclipse lecture)

by Dr. Tom Sale, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Past Director of the Center for Hydrology in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University.

Indiana's Great Eclipse

A Scholastic Journey into the Past, Present, and Future.

A Free Pre-Eclipse Lecture Series

April 7, 2024

Carmel Public Library

Carmel, Indiana

This is a free event, but registration is required:

 Register Here

Schedule

1:30PM Welcome Reception

2:00PM Introduction by Dan Kelleher, Midwest GeoSciences Group

2:10PM Tom Sale (15-20 mins) ECLIPSES AND CELESTIAL BODIES:  Shining a Light on History and Science during this Magical Moment of Darkness

(Dr. Tom Sale, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Past Director of the Center for Hydrology in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University)

2:30PM Donna Jurdy (40-45 mins) SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Perspectives of an Earth Scientist 

(Dr. Donna Jurdy, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University)

3:15PM Supplemental Q&A

3:30PM Adjourn.

About Dr. Sale's Lecture

Mixing history and science about past eclipses is a truly fascinating journey.    There are many references about ancient eclipses and sometimes these historic moments lead to wild stories and lunatic speculation (pun intended).  And sometimes those stories lead to folklore that grow into generational legends.  

Sometimes thoughtful science prevails where the stories pass on meaningful details. Hypotheses are made and lead to theories where they can possibly become accepted facts.  These contrasting paths provide an opportunity for provocative discussion of the moon and deep space objects.  

An example of historic reference, there are some who contend that the Bible story about Abraham who says, "And when the sun was going down...great darkness fell upon him." sees this text as an eclipse instead of nighttime.  Some Bible scholars assign Abraham’s words to May 1533 BC. What is interesting in this is that there is an actual NASA database that tracks past and future eclipses ( https://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ).  Ironically, a solar eclipse occurred in Jerusalem in 1533 BC, but does that mean that the text in question is talking about an eclipse?  What a wildly intriguing perspective!

Tom Sale, PhD

Tom Sale, PhD, PE is currently Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Past Director of the Center for Contaminant Hydrology in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University.

Tom is a recognized astronomy enthusiast leading field trips to various solar and lunar eclipses along with other astro- and geoscience events. He is a masterful speaker and story teller.   Tom recently led a Solar Eclipse Field Trip to Utah for the October 14, 2023 ring of fire. Tom's back deck at home has some of the most impressive telescope equipment in the State of Colorado.

Tom contributes to Midwest GeoSciences Group in a variety of ways. Although Tom's main focus is teaching ground water courses, he led an astronomical field trip in 2012 for Midwest GeoSciences Group near Adelaide, South Australia. On April 8, 2024, he will be co-leading the astronomical education and live on-site announcements at Civic Center north of City Hall Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University in Carmel.

Dr. Sale has authored numerous landmark papers and is the driving force behind patented technologies that have changed the direction of the ground water contamination industry. He also contributes to ground water projects as a consultant and a regulation policy reviewer.

Pre-Eclipse Lecture 2: Is there Extraterrestrial Intelligence Out There?

 SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Perspectives of an Earth Scientist 

(45-min free, pre-eclipse lecture)

by Dr. Donna Jurdy, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University.

Indiana's Great Eclipse

A Scholastic Journey into the Past, Present, and Future

A Free Pre-Eclipse Lecture Series

Carmel Public Library

April 7, 2024

This is a free event, but registration is required:

 Register Here

Schedule

1:30PM Welcome Reception

2:00PM Introduction by Dan Kelleher, Midwest GeoSciences Group

2:10PM Tom Sale (15-20 mins) ECLIPSES AND CELESTIAL BODIES:  Shining a Light on History and Science during this Magical Moment of Darkness

(Dr. Tom Sale, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Past Director of the Center for Hydrology in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University)

2:30PM Donna Jurdy (40-45 mins) SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Perspectives of an Earth Scientist 

(Dr. Donna Jurdy, Emeritus Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University)

3:15PM Supplemental Q&A

3:30PM Adjourn.

Dr. Jurdy's Lecture Description

Over 50+ years of listening and searching for evidence from an alien intelligence has not led to a single credible example. Thus, the "Fermi Paradox" remains unanswered. Possible explanations for "The Great Silence" abound. The 'Rare Earth' hypothesis, developed from studying the Earth’s fast start of life, but slow advance to intelligence, may offer evidence of the unlikely development of numerous intelligent civilizations. Radio telescopes, at limited wavelengths, are the current technology for ongoing investigations. 

Analysis of media coverage, themes in science fiction and film, hoaxes, and psychological factors will be discussed. The scientific, societal, religious, and political impacts of an actual First Contact scenario will be included. Northwestern University’s special role in the history of SETI will be noted. The ongoing 'exoplanet' discoveries from NASA missions continue to provide numerous examples of possible earth-like planets in life-hosting systems. Future initiatives will utilize new technology by searching for signals in optical or infra-red wavelengths. Another future approach will be to search for direct evidence of life, instead of auxiliary signals. Still, what observations would offer proof of life?

Donna Jurdy, PhD

Dr. Donna Jurdy, Distinguished Lecturer for the Association for Women Geoscientists and Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University. Dr. Jurdy’s current research includes planetary tectonics of Venus, the magnetic lineations on Mars, and Titan's surface.

Dr. Jurdy is internationally-recognized for her planetary research and her ground-breaking approach to study the dynamics of plate tectonics. Her approach was to test hypotheses proposed using the present plate geometry and velocities by using past plate motions. She looked at the rotation of the lithosphere with respect to hotspots, correlations of plate speeds with latitude, speeds of continental versus oceanic plates, and motions between hotspots. She showed that episodes of back arc spreading were often triggered by changes in plate motions. Hence she played a major role in developing an approach that is now a standard and powerful tool in geodynamic studies. 

These accomplishments led to her election as a Geological Society of America (GSA) Fellow. She also won a National Science Foundation award for distinguished woman scientists and served as an AAPG Distinguished Lecturer.  

Dr. Jurdy continues intriguing research in comparative planetary science, looking at different planets and moons. These show her typical style: asking interesting questions and approaching them in imaginative ways. For example, showing that true polar wander may be occurring on Io in response to its extensive volcanism. Also, she looked at magnetic lineations on Mars, suggested to have been formed by plate tectonics, and found strong evidence against this attractive hypothesis. Her accomplishments led NASA to repeatedly ask her for advice on proposed planetary missions.

This is a free event, but registration is required:

 Register Here

CARMEL-BASED MIDWEST GEOSCIENCES CREATES ONE OF A KIND TELESCOPE FOR SAFE VIEWING ON APRIL 8

CARMEL, IN: Midwest GeoSciences Group has built a one-of-a-kind telescope for safely witnessing the anticipated Total Solar Eclipse on April 8 and in a partnership with the City of Carmel, will bring the telescope to the city’s official viewing event at Carmel City Hall.

People can witness the eclipse from anywhere around the world and without looking directly at the sun, thanks to a special viewing station that will be set up to capture the image of the sun and then transmit it on a live streaming platform that will be shared both on the ground and across the globe.

“Eclipse Glasses seem to be available everywhere now, but if you’re participating in the on-site festivities at City Hall, you’ll be able to look at this unique equipment and watch the real-time solar eclipse on a large TV monitor,” said Dan Kelleher, Geologist and President of Midwest GeoSciences.

The viewing station will use Smart Telescope Technology to capture the image of the sun and then electronically transmit it to a platform accessible online. That means that anyone can login to the internet and witness the real-time eclipse progression from Carmel. The weblink will be provided on the City of Carmel Website on April 1.

Kelleher searched different telescope manufacturing companies for the latest imagery technology after he realized that a pin-point mirror reflection would fail to provide a practical eclipse image at the large image scale Dan envisioned. Astronomics Inc., from Norman, Oklahoma had the answer, pointing Kelleher to a new “first-generation” Smart Telescope Technology using an imaging system called Seestar S50.  This apparatus calibrates itself to Earth Geometry Coordinates allowing self-search and targeting of space objects.  

Sun image taken on 23FEB2024.  Sunspots visible.

At nighttime, the powerful Seestar S50 is a remarkable tool for easily finding and photographing deep-space objects. It comes with a solar filter that works perfectly for capturing images of the sun and its surface. Solar flares and sunspots are visible real time using the solar filter.

Plus, if you’re participating in the on-site festivities at City Hall, you’ll be able to look at this unique equipment and watch the real-time solar eclipse on a large TV monitor.  Eclipse Glasses seem to be available everywhere now, but the monitor screen allows an alternative to watch the eclipse without glasses.

CHALLENGES IN BUILDING THIS SMART TELESCOPE FOR LIVE STREAMING 

The process for live streaming is a sequence of firmwares, Apps and softwares leading ultimately to YouTube Live.  The Seestar S50 uses Bluetooth with the iPad for operation which restricts some Apps for live streaming.   Thanks to a team of IT professionals working together, we found the answer for transmitting the live stream of the telescope imagery. Luckily persistence prevailed and today we are able to stream a live broadcast of this specialized Smart Telescope.

FREE LECTURE AT CARMEL LIBRARY

Midwest GeoSciences Group is hosting a Pre-Eclipse Lecture at the Carmel Clay Public Library on Sunday, April 7 featuring two lectures by experts in their field:

ECLIPSES AND CELESTIAL BODIES: Shining a Light on History and Science during this Magical Moment of Darkness, with Dr. Tom Sale, Emeritus Professor of Civil Engineering and Past Director of the Center for Hydrology in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Colorado State University.

SETI: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence - Perspectives of an Earth Scientist, with Dr. Donna Jurdy, Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Northwestern University.

ABOUT MIDWEST GEOSCIENCES GROUP

Midwest GeoSciences Group is based in Carmel, Indiana and was founded in 1996 by Dan Kelleher and Tim Kemmis, professional geologists and recognized experts in their field. The organization offers high-level training to hydrogeologic, environmental, and engineering professionals mainly around the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Australia.  “MidwestGeo” also performs professional consulting services to help solve complex ground water problems.

MORE INFORMATION

Midwest GeoSciences Group prepared a schedule of events that are happening in and around Carmel:

https://midwestgeo.com/solareclipse2024/index.php

MEDIA CONTACT

Dan McFeely, Midwest GeoSciences Group,  mcfeely@midwestgeo.com or by phone, 317.847.9266.

Free stickers are available at:
https://midwestgeo.com/solareclipse2024/index.php

First idea for a viewing station was the traditional pin-point mirror reflection but the image remains small (and projects far away) even using high-precision optics.

Pictured is a set up with more experimenting with mirror sizes, reflection strategies, and experimental optics.